| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > |
Membership ends: thanks everybody for your help and bye Thread poster: Pedro Godfroid
|
|---|
I just wanted to thank all the people who tried to help me getting established as a translator.
I really appreciate all the advice and help I have received and want you to know that, if any time any of you need some help in some area I can give you a hand, I will try to give you back the favour.
But that will not be through here as my membership ends tomorrow. Because, despite following all your tips, suggestions and recommendations and all the work I've done, I did not... See more I just wanted to thank all the people who tried to help me getting established as a translator.
I really appreciate all the advice and help I have received and want you to know that, if any time any of you need some help in some area I can give you a hand, I will try to give you back the favour.
But that will not be through here as my membership ends tomorrow. Because, despite following all your tips, suggestions and recommendations and all the work I've done, I did not get a single job, small or big, nothing at all. Not even enough to renew my membership so I'm not doing it. But I still have my email in case somebody needs something.
So thanks again and bye and I hope you'll all have better luck than me.
--
Pedro Godfroid Goffin ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Only a member since March 2012 - 5 months including the quiet summer! | Sep 3, 2012 |
Pedro - if you're still there - you didn't try hard enough. Your profile is (was?) very incomplete; having a full profile is a key factor for success, on this website.
And you should also note that it takes time - a lot of time - to build up business through Proz.com.
Perhaps you might be persuaded to change your mind? You do seem like a very experienced linguist.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 16:38 GMT]
| | | |
Pedro Godfroid
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I've done all I could and I have no time left | Sep 3, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
Pedro - if you're still there - you didn't try hard enough.
That's quite obvious as I did not get any job...
But I *did* do _all_I_could_ and followed all the advice, even against my own criteria.
Your profile is (was?) very incomplete; having a full profile is a key factor for success, on this website.
I modified it several times according to the advice I received but my problem is precisely that I am a n00b here and thus do *not* have any references as a professional translator as I've worked as a IT specialist all my life. And I cannot make up what I do not have or lie about it, that's not my style.
And you should also note that it takes time - a lot of time - to build up business through Proz.com.
Too much for me. I need to earn money to live. And this has taken me too much time already.
Perhaps you might be persuaded to change your mind? You do seem like a very experienced linguist.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 16:38 GMT]
No money, no time. I'll be 60 next month and I've been unemployed for more than 2 years. And I live in Spain with a family at my charge... My savings are running out, so I need a job. Not a year from now...
Thanks for your help anyway.
And, no, that's precisely my problem. That was kind of you but I'm not an experienced linguist. I'm only an IT professional thrown out of the IT world due to his age who tries to find a new job and thought my experience in translating and revising translations acquired during some of my IT jobs and my practice and know-how as a writer could help me relocate as a translator.
| | | |
| You, should not give in; stay with | Sep 3, 2012 |
ProZ. It takes time sometimes, which does not mean, of course, that you should not be looking for other jobs in the meantime. You could always do translations on the side, as something additional to any other jobs you will find -- I am sure you will find jobs. If you like translating, however, you should not give it up. Good Luck. Lil
[Edited at 2012-09-03 17:31 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-09-03 17:32 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 13:10
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Preconceptions? | Sep 3, 2012 |
When you first registered, did you have any preconceptions about this, eg. that you just register and you start getting jobs and then you get rich? Or somebody else suggested these preconceptions to you? If yes, my advice is: drop them.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 17:37 GMT]
| | | |
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Pedro Godfroid wrote:
....I thought my experience in translating and revising translations acquired during some of my IT jobs and my practice and know-how as a writer could help me relocate as a translator.
You're right. Don't abandon the idea.
| | | |
finnword1
United States
Local time: 07:10
English to Finnish
+ ...
| What about ATA? | Sep 3, 2012 |
Pedro: It took me months to get one single worthwhile job through this site, and that one perhaps only because of its specific technical nature. It seems that most jobs here are reverse-auctioned to the lowest bidder. I receive more benefit from the Blue Board which helps me weed out junk agencies.
Have you considered a membership in the ATA? I receive most of my new enquiries through their searchable membership roster. I just looked the 2010 membership book, and there are 38 ATA members l... See more Pedro: It took me months to get one single worthwhile job through this site, and that one perhaps only because of its specific technical nature. It seems that most jobs here are reverse-auctioned to the lowest bidder. I receive more benefit from the Blue Board which helps me weed out junk agencies.
Have you considered a membership in the ATA? I receive most of my new enquiries through their searchable membership roster. I just looked the 2010 membership book, and there are 38 ATA members listed in Madrid alone. ATA on-line search for Spanish into French pair, and software localization listed in their profile, 7 names came up. I did not bother checking where those 7 are located. Good luck, Pedro! ▲ Collapse
| | | |
ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 14:10
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
Bye Pedro, and best of luck to you.
| | |
|
|
|
Pedro Godfroid
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Preconception lost | Sep 3, 2012 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
When you first registered, did you have any preconceptions about this, eg. that you just register and you start getting jobs and then you get rich?
Wrong.
I never thought I could get rich. Besides, I'm not interested in being rich. Where did you get these misconceptions?
Or somebody else suggested these preconceptions to you? If yes, my advice is: drop them.
No need, I do not have the preconceptions you think.
The only preconception I had was that it could be helpful to get me a job. That's why I followed the advice that was given to me. Even contradictory recommendations trying one and then the other.
And now even that simple preconception has been proved wrong.
I see you have a diverse experience. For instance, can't you work as a mechanic?
I do sometimes when the opportunity arises which is not very often but it's more doing favours to people who then give me back other favour in exchange. Like fixing my shoemaker's ride so he does not charge me when I need my boots to be fixed. And, of course, I do the mechanic on my bike as I cannot afford to pay for it anyway.
But at 60 nobody is going to give me a regular job as a mechanic. I'm a several times better IT professional than mechanic and I do not get any job there, so fat chance. Moreover jobs are dwindling down here thanks to the recession.
Besides, I'm writing a couple of books, that I had to stop to do this, studying Portuguese and brushing up my Dutch and tinkering with my friend's computers when they need it, but that does not bring food to my table.
I do have a couple of activities in view but they are much more shady than the black under the counter non-jobs I do for survival now so I'll not follow through until I have no other choice...
[Edited at 2012-09-03 21:18 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-09-03 21:19 GMT]
| | | |
XX789 (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 13:10
English to Dutch
+ ...
| The biggest mistake | Sep 3, 2012 |
The biggest mistake the translators on this site have made, a mistake which I've also made countless times in the past, is that you cannot convince people. People have to convince themselves. The only person who could ever convince Pedro to become a translator is Pedro himself.
He hasn't become a translator because he doesn't want to. And that's all there's to it.
Good luck with your further endeavours!
| | | |
Pedro Godfroid
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
finnword1 wrote:
Pedro: It took me months to get one single worthwhile job through this site, and that one perhaps only because of its specific technical nature. It seems that most jobs here are reverse-auctioned to the lowest bidder. I receive more benefit from the Blue Board which helps me weed out junk agencies.
Have you considered a membership in the ATA? I receive most of my new enquiries through their searchable membership roster. I just looked the 2010 membership book, and there are 38 ATA members listed in Madrid alone. ATA on-line search for Spanish into French pair, and software localization listed in their profile, 7 names came up. I did not bother checking where those 7 are located. Good luck, Pedro!
If you refer to the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Autónomos, I'm not even one as I have no income and so no way to pay even to be an autonomous worker (social security, health coverage and so on). All the little work I do must either be a commercial transaction or under the counter. So, if I cannot be an autonomous worker, I cannot be of their association. That besides not being able to pay for the membership... And the reason I do not renew my ProZ membership is the same: no money to pay for it.
But thanks for your suggestion anyway.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 21:20 GMT]
| | | |
| Another ATA... | Sep 3, 2012 |
Pedro Godfroid wrote:
If you refer to the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Autónomos...
I think the colleague referred to the American Translators Association (www.atanet.org). It is often an additional source of potential customers.
| | |
|
|
|
Pedro Godfroid
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | No marketing or sales skill here. | Sep 3, 2012 |
Loek van Kooten wrote:
The biggest mistake the translators on this site have made, a mistake which I've also made countless times in the past, is that you cannot convince people.
That, I agree with you. I have always be a lousy seller and people person. That's why I worked in tech with machines and not people.
You're right. That's the problem. It does not matter if I can do the job when I cannot get the job.
People have to convince themselves. The only person who could ever convince Pedro to become a translator is Pedro himself.
He hasn't become a translator because he doesn't want to. And that's all there's to it.
Oh thanks, that was helpful, encouraging and heartening.
I really appreciate your kindness in sharing your telepathic ability that allows you to know better than myself what I feel, think and want. :-/
Good luck with your further endeavours!
I'll ask for your advice as you clearly know much better than me what I really want...
[Edited at 2012-09-03 20:33 GMT]
| | | |
Pedro Godfroid
Local time: 13:10
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: Pedro Godfroid wrote:
If you refer to the Federación Nacional de Trabajadores Autónomos... I think the colleague referred to the American Translators Association ( www.atanet.org). It is often an additional source of potential customers.
Thanks for the link.
I've just checked it but it's another paying thing and I'm leaving ProZ because I cannot afford to pay for it. Tx anyway.
| | | |
Dinny
Greece
Local time: 14:10
Italian to Danish
+ ...
| You can always be a free non-paying member... | Sep 3, 2012 |
No need to leave ProZ.com and the "maybe" opportunity to get jobs, or rather to get known through your profile.
Before I jumped into a full-time freelance translator, I tested the site and the opportunities for one year alongside my regular work. It was hard (double) work, because I would need to do whatever translations I was asked to do in the evening hours, and all the thousands of emails I sent out to translation agencies were also to be done during my free hours. But it eventua... See more No need to leave ProZ.com and the "maybe" opportunity to get jobs, or rather to get known through your profile.
Before I jumped into a full-time freelance translator, I tested the site and the opportunities for one year alongside my regular work. It was hard (double) work, because I would need to do whatever translations I was asked to do in the evening hours, and all the thousands of emails I sent out to translation agencies were also to be done during my free hours. But it eventually convinced me that I could live on it, and I have been so for the last 8 years full-time.
I am in my sixties and I count to go on doing this not only till I get my retirement pension... but as long as my fingers can work on the keyboard and my head manages to get the translation right.
Because I love the freedom that is in this kind of work.
[Edited at 2012-09-03 18:31 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
